Central banks report modest demand for gold in August

Reported central bank activity in August was markedly slower. While gold's price performance is not a top strategic driver for central banks purchase, its consistent upward trend could have influenced the deceleration. However, it is worth noting that sales have not increased which may signal a likely wait and see approach rather than a change in trend. Specially, since all other key drivers of central bank decision making, such as the need for effective diversifiers and gold's performance in time of risk remain in place. In all, our expectation remains positive for the rest of the year but, as we previously discussed, will likely be below last year's total.

Stay tuned for our upcoming Q3 Gold Demand Trends, scheduled at the end of October, which combines a more comprehensive set of data to estimate central bank activity.¹